Transportation models have not been adequate in addressing severe long-term urban transportation problems that transportation disadvantaged groups overwhelmingly encounter, and the negative impacts of transportation on the disadvantaged have not been effectively considered in the modeling studies. Therefore this paper aims to develop a transportation modeling approach in order to understand the travel patterns of the transportation disadvantaged, and help in developing policies to solve the problems of the disadvantaged. Effectiveness of this approach is tested in a pilot study in Aydin, Turkey. After determining disadvantaged groups by a series of spatial and statistical analyses, the approach is integrated with a travel demand model. The model is run for both disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged populations to examine the differences between their travel behaviors. The findings of the pilot study reveal that almost two thirds of the population is disadvantaged, and this modeling approach could be particularly useful in disadvantage-sensitive planning studies to deploy relevant land use and transportation policies for disadvantaged groups.

Access to transport systems and the connection to such systems provided to essential economic and social activities are critical to determine households' transportation disadvantage levels. In spite of the developments in better identifying transportation disadvantaged groups, the lack of effective policies resulted in the continuum of the issue as a significant problem. This paper undertakes a pilot case investigation as test bed for a new approach developed to reduce transportation policy shortcomings. The approach, 'disadvantage-impedance index', aims to ease transportation disadvantages by employing representative parameters to measure the differences between policy alternatives run in a simulation environment. Implemented in the Japanese town of Arao, the index uses trip-making behaviour and resident stated preference data. The results of the index reveal that even a slight improvement in accessibility and travel quality indicators makes a significant difference in easing disadvantages. The index, integrated into a four-step model, proves to be highly robust and useful in terms of quick diagnosis in capturing effective actions, and developing potentially efficient policies.

This paper proposes a method for estimating transportation supply requirements when the suppressed demand of the transportation disadvantaged (TD) can be calculated and added to existing demand for travel. The underlying assumption is that the travel conditions of these TD groups must be equal to the 'conventional' demand, known as 'full release'. Utilising the modelling approach for TD, suppressed demand analysis, diagnosis of difficulties and equity between conventional and disadvantaged groups were realised, while elaborating special cases for the most vulnerable TD groups (such as elderly and disabled persons) and simultaneously identifying areas of difficulty. From the early virtual results, it is concluded that, for the full release of suppressed trips (only a 5% increase), policy makers must be ready to face some financial burdens, requiring coordination of effort to both standardise these TD groups and reduce the costs incurred by operators.

Transportation-disadvantaged groups have been defined in previous studies as those who are low income earners, are family dependent, have limited access to private motor vehicles and public transport services, and are obliged to spend relatively more time and money on their trips. Additionally the disabled, young, and elderly are commonly considered to be among the transportationdisadvantaged. Although generally this definition seems correct, it is not specific enough to become a universal definition that could apply to all urban contexts. This paper investigates whether perceptions of travel difficulty vary as does the definition of transportationdisadvantaged in socioculturally different urban contexts. For this investigation, the writers undertake a series of statistical analyses in a case study of Yamaga, Japan, and compare the findings with a previous case study, in which the same methodology, hypothesis, and assumptions were applied to a culturally and demographically different settlement in Aydin, Turkey. After comparing the findings observed in Aydin with the statistical analysis results in Yamaga, this paper reveals that there can be no detailed, universal definition of the transportation-disadvantaged. The writers conclude that the characteristics of the transportation-disadvantaged are not globally identical, and policies and solutions that work in one locality may not have the same results in another sociocultural context.